Valve trumpet



United States Patent inventor Yukihiro Oguma Hamarnatsu-shi, Japan Appl. No. 746,569 Filed July 22, 1968 Patented Sept. 8, 1970 Assignee Nippon Gakki Seizo Kahushiki Kaisha Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka-ken, Japan a corporation of Japan VALVE TRUMPET 7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl. 84/394 Int. Cl. 610d 7/10, G 10d 9/00 Field of Search 84/387, 388, 394

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Primary Examiner Stephen .1. Tomsky Assistant Examiner-Lawrence R. Franklin Attorney-George B. Oujevolk Pa tented K Sept. 8, 1970 v 3,527,135

Sheet 1 012 INVENTOR.

Patented Sept. 8, .1970 a Sheet v INVENTOR.

VALVE TRUMPET mouthpiece to the inlet of the valve assembly was to increase the freedom of air passage without strains of sound waves'and ease performance in desired harmonics, it was difficult to shape the lead pipe into a continuously tapered form due to the presence of said sets of tuning slides at the intermediate points of the lead pipe. For a similar reason, the lead pipe with the tuning slide resulted in an unstable tonal pitch.

' lt has 'also been known that the valve trumpet had a bell separable into two members at an intermediate point so as to permit the forwardmember (flare-portion) of the bell to be replaced with another which would bring about a different musical key and tone colour. However, it has been found that in actual performance, a mere replacement of said forward member did not exhibit the aforesaid desired effect.

An'object of this invention is to'provide a valve trumpet im- "proved was to increase the'freedom of air passage without strains of sound waves, ease performance'in desired harmonies and keep a stable tonal pitch.

"ln an aspect-of this invention, the valvetrumpet therefore v comprises a valve assembly, a tapered lead pipe directly connected with the inlet of the valve assembly, a bell with a crooked portion, and a telescopic connector disposed at the end of the bell to connect the'inlet of the bell with theoutletof the valveassembly, said bell connector having an outer tube and an inner tube slidable' through the outer tube in an-air tight manner so as to tune the trumpet in a desired pitch.

Another object of this invention is to provide a valve trumpet including a bell with a crooked portion detachable from the outlet of the valve assembly so as to permit the bell to be replaced with another which will bringabout such variations in the musical key and tone colour as will produce satisfactory effects in actual performance.

A-further object of this invention is to' provide a valve trumpet including means for holding the bell in a manner to slidably guide the bell in parallel to the axis of the connector so that the'connector is slidablyextended and pulled back without any inconvenient effects such as bending and deformation.

' The present invention can be more fully understood fromthe following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

3 FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a valve trumpet embodying this invention; FIG. 2 is a plane view of the valve trumpet shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a rear end view of the valve trumpet; and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the valve trumpet. Referring to the drawings, the valve trumpet of this invention includes a lead pipe 1, a valve assembly 2 and am" 3 with a crooked portion 3a. The lead pipe 1 is continuously tapered from one end, to which a mouthpiece 4 is detachably connected,'tothe other end connected with the inlet 5 of the valve assembly" 2,and directly connected with the valve inlet 5 without the necessity of interposi'ng two sets of telescopic con- *n'e'ctors' for tuning the trumpet aswas required in the prior art.

The valve assembly 2 is provided with three valves 2a, 2b

"and'2c each-having a'cylindrical casing 6, a piston'including a rod 7, and a finger button 8 disposed at the top of the piston I 'rod 7. The bell 3 communicates with the outlet 9 of the valve assembly 2 through the inlet of thebell 3. Namely, the telescopic connector 10includes-'an-outer tube*l0a which is formed into a cylinder having a uniform diameter and the fore end of which is immovably fixed to the rear end of the bell and an inner tube 10b a telescopic connector 10 engaged with which is slidably-inserted into the outer tube- 10a in an air tight tubular portion of the valve outlet 9. The inside wall of the slide tube 10b is 'taperedcontinuously towards the inside wall of the bell3, in a manner to form a substantial continuation of the inner end of the bell. Therefore, air'can flow freely through the connector 10 without any substantial turbulence with theresultant prevention of sound waves from suffering any strains. Or instead, the inside wall of the slide tube 101; may be cylindrical without taper.

the inlet portion of thebell 3 as well as Since the aforementioned trumpet includes a single telescopic connector '10 disposed at the outlet of the valve assembly; it is possible to increase the freedom of air passage without strains of sound waves and ease performance in desired harmonics. The tapered lead pipe 1 without any slides resultsin a stable tonal pitch together with the aforesaid satisfactory effects.

' The valve inlet S'includes a tubular portion mounted on the casing of the third valve 2c and the tubular portion of the valve outlet is disposed on the casing of the first valve 2a. Each of the three valve casings communicates with a crooked tube 11 as well known.

On the side of the valve casings is disposed means for holding the bell 3 thereto. Said holding means includes a guide rail 12 mounted on the valve casings by means of brazing in parallel to the axis of the bell connector 10, as well as a movable frame 13 which is rigidly secured to the forward section of the bell 3 disposed beyond the crooked portion 3a and is also slidably fitted to the rail 12 so as to be guided in parallel to the connector axis thereby to slide the inner tube 10b through the outer tube 10a for tuning thetrumpet. The guide rail 12 is bridged between the first and third casings. The frame 13 has the same length as the guide 'rail so as sufficiently to support the bell only by the holding means. Since the bell is guided exactly along the rail 12, the connector'lOis slidably extended and pulled back without any inconvenient effects such as bending and deformation. The frame 13 isprovided with a set screw 14 to be fixed to the rail 12.

In this embodiment, the frame 13 may have a cross section of a dovetail groove form. The set screw 14 is preferably disposed at a level at which it neverobstructs the operation of the finger buttons. The set screw is further preferably positionedat the fore end of the rail 12 and between the second and third casings when the trumpet is tuned to the Standard Pitch of -A =44O Hz. by the sliding adjustment'of the outer tube 10a relative to the inner tube 10!).

Furthermore, the outer tube 10a may be detachable from the inner slide tube 10b so as to permit thebell to be replaced with another which will bring about such variations in the musical key and tone-colour as will produce satisfactory effects in actual performance. Since the bell is supported at a single point, the transmissionof the bell vibration will be scarcely obstructed. In this embodiment, the connector 10 is composed of the inner tube and the outer tube arranged in the order mentioned in the direction of air flow so as satisfactorily toprevent the air through the connector from being leaked,

and disposed at the beginning of the bell, a position where the tube is least or not tapered so as to reduce the strains of sound waves as much as possible.

While the invention has been described in connection with some preferred embodiments thereof, the invention is not limited thereto and includes any modifications and alterations which fall within the scope'of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

l claim:

1. A valve trumpet comprising:

a valve assembly 2, with an inlet and outlet 9;

a lead pipe 1 connected with the inlet of the valve assembly and tapered continuously from one end thereof to the other;

a bell 3 with a crooked portion 3a;

. guide means 12 for holding and slidably guiding said bell;

and

a telescopic connector disposed at the end of the bell to connect the inlet of the bell with the outlet of the valve assembly, said connector having an outer tube 100 and an inner tube 10b slidable through the outer tube in an air tight manner, said outer tube being immovably fixed to the end of the bell and the inner tube being immovably fixed to the tubular portion of the valve assembly outlet.

2. A valve trumpet claimed in claim 1 in which the outer tube is detachable from the inner slide tube so as to permit the bell to be replaced with another.

3. A valve trumpet claimed in claim 1 in which said guide means includes a guide rail mounted on valve casings and a frame secured to the forward section of the bell disposed beyond the crooked portion, said frame being movable relative to the guide rail.

4. A valve trumpet claimed in claim 3, in which a set screw is provided on the frame so as to fix the frame to the guide rail.

5. A valve trumpet claimed in claim 4, in which the set screw is positioned between the second and third casings of the valve assembly when the trumpet is tuned to a standard pitch by the sliding adjustment of the outer tube relative to the inner tube.

6. A valve trumpet claimed in claim 1, in which the inner wall of the inner tube is tapered continuously toward the inner wall of the bell in a manner to form a substantial continuation of the inner end of the bell. i

7. A valve trumpet claimed in claim 1, in which the inner wall of the inner slide tube, as well as inner wall of the bell at its inlet portion is not tapered. 

